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Dear Barrie
You may be pleased to learn that I have just been informed that Westminster City Council accept that I was ... not contravening the parking regulations. They have informed me that I will be receiving a full refund of my £115 fines. We have achieved this is in only 19 working days! I have no doubt whatsoever that it would not have happened without your unstinting encouragement, advice and support - thank you very much! [PC]

Barrie you are a star. I received a council letter today telling me that the parking ticket had been cancelled. I think that represents the quickest climb down since Tarzan saw Jane. Many thanks. [M]

We were in total dispair. Thanks to you we got all the fraudulently issued parking tickets cancelled. [ZA]

WARNING BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!

Remember during Bank Holidays some councils are issuing parking tickets if you park on single yellow lines even though they may let you park for free on meters. This also applies to Bus Lanes. Remember that if a Saturday falls during a Bank Holiday weekend it is treated as a normal Saturday for parking purposes!

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Tribunal hears claim that parking attendants in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, tampered with devices and ignored "grace periods" so they could issue more penalties.

Andrew Williams claimed parking attendants in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, tampered with devices and ignored "grace periods" so they could issue more penalties.

The hearing was told civil enforcement officers were expected to issue roughly four parking tickets each day to satisfy a quota established by the council.

When Mr Williams failed to match the unwritten targets in October, 2007 he was asked why he was under-performing
.

He told the parking manager Alan Turton that some wardens happened to be issuing unlawful parking tickets but declined to give names.

He told the tribunal that he Mr. Turton asked him how come these other people had issued consistently higher tickets him. "I said some of them were issuing tickets they shouldn't be, tickets that were illegal."

Mr Williams, of Penistone, near Barnsley said some officers gave out parking ticket in undesignated areas and others where there were incorrect road markings.

He said: "I demonstrated two ways how it could be done. There is a third way but I couldn't demonstrate it as you need to be issuing a ticket at the time"

Mr Williams said a colleague had shown him how to adjust the time on a device so a penalty charge notice could be given before a driver had exceeded their time.

An additional method was to change a false entry made previously to make it seem as if a motor vehicle had been left for a longer period than it had by opening an entry with incorrect data and then over-riding it with a vehicle registration number later.

He stated there was meant to be a "grace period" of ten minutes for any motorist making use of pay and display tickets.

But hand-held machines permitted tickets to be given immediately so parking attendants didn't need to observe the regulations.

Mr Williams claimed constructive dismissal against Barnsley Council, declaring he was bullied and harassed following the allegations.

He stated he was singled out by his line manager for telling senior bosses what was happening and also the council did not act on his grievances.

But council bosses said Mr Williams was found sleeping on the job and had been performing duties while not wearing a uniform.

They contended that he was upset after being overlooked for advancement to a senior parking attendant in January, 2007 and took the failure to rise up the ranks poorly and lost interest in the job.

Mr Williams represented himself at the Sheffield tribunal but withdrew his claim after each day saying he felt unable to continue.

He stated after: "I was one person against a entire legal team, the tension proved too much for me but |I stand by everything I stated."

Barnsley Council deny all the allegations. A spokesman said: "Barnsley Council does not normally comment on matters within an employment tribunal.

"But given that car parking enforcement issues are always emotive the council feels it is important to put clearly on record that in the case of Mr Williams the council has consistently denied that there has been any illegal activity by its civil parking enforcement officers and specifically Mr Williams' allegations of bullying and harassment have also been consistently denied."